The EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive has a proud legacy in the UK – policymakers would be wise to implement its latest initiatives, argues Andrew Warren, chair of the British Energy Efficiency Federation and a friend of EiD in an article of the Business Green website.
Why the UK should remain aligned with EU buildings energy policy
This month, the European Union (EU) will include full details of the fourth iteration of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) in its official gazette of record, the Official Journal of the European Union.
Over the past 20 years, the directive has had more impact upon minimising energy wastage in the 24 billion square metres of Europe’s buildings than any other initiative. Its new objective is to, by 2030, double the number of deep energy renovations currently undertaken, and cut energy consumption of buildings by 14 per cent and heating and cooling by 18 per cent.
The first three versions of the EPBD remain operational under UK law. In truth, practically all the measures currently helping to improve the energy efficiency of the buildings we live and work in have come because of this directive.
Not for the UK
These latest set of improvements won’t apply to anybody living or working in the UK. They will, however, apply non-EU states like Norway and Switzerland.
Last month, I was invited to be keynote speaker in Madrid at the annual international gathering of building control professionals, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).
This was because in the early 2000s I chaired an EU task force on sustainable construction and energy efficiency. The group developed a set of radical ideas to improve the energy performance of buildings, practically all of which became the basis for the original version of the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which came into force in 2003. The one recommendation that was originally omitted has been included in the latest version of the EPBD.
The new EPBD was the hot topic of the ASHRAE conference, largely because no other OECD member has yet developed such a detailed legal blueprint for improving energy usage in buildings.
A number of initiatives that sprung directly from the original EPBD still officially apply in the UK.
Introducing energy performance labels
The 2003 Directive mandated the concept of having a comparative label measuring the running costs of a building. This involved the creation of an energy performance certificate (EPC), which had to made available to prospective occupiers not just when a building is sold, but whenever a building’s occupants changed, following the granting of a new lease. The EPC must include advice on the most cost-optimal improvement options available, and all advertising of the certificate needs to include the rating, of between A and G.
Note the use of that phrase cost optimal, rather than just cost effective. This was designed to ensure the lifetime benefits of including any specific measure were reflected, rather than restricting improvement recommendations to the limiting concept of commercial payback times.
To ensure quality assurance of certificates, an independent control system was created to verify the validity of both energy performance certificates and heating and cooling systems.
The Directive also required any building occupied by a public authority, to which members of the public have access, display an energy certificate in a prominent place and brought up to date each year. Initially such ratings were to be seen in every public building in the UK. This had been an excellent way for voters to monitor just which public authorities are being frugal, and which profligate. It seems that, ever since Brexit, the absence of overt oversight by central government has led to an increasing failure to comply, including in the energy department itself.
The Directive also mandated such key issues as regular inspections of air conditioning systems, of intelligent – or smart – metering systems, and facilities for electric vehicle charging. All these areas are being strengthened in the latest version.
Net zero buildings
Building codes for new buildings needed to be upped every five years, a timetable the UK adhered to up until 2015, when plans to deliver nearly net zero buildings were unilaterally dropped on a whim of then-Chancellor George Osborne.
The new EPBD mandates all publicly funded buildings to be absolutely net zero by 2028, and privately built by 2030. All new buildings are to be “solar ready”, in notes.
The UK still has no official benchmark for net zero homes. As the chief executive of the UK Green Building Council Smith Mordak recently told The Times: “If anybody is saying that their building is net zero at the moment, they may be doing that with good intentions – or it may be something more mythical. The problem is, without a clear standard that allows people to make a credible claim, anything can be challenged”.
UKGBC is working with over 500 organisations to come up with the UK’s first Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard, with a draft version is due this summer.
The new version of the EPBD concentrates primarily upon existing buildings, largely because 85 per cent of those set to be in use by 2050 are already constructed.
Each government is now charged with updating a strategic building renovations plan for delivering energy efficiency, including any financial incentives and penalties. The last equivalent UK plan for strategic renovations was issued back in 2014.
These strategic renovation plans will be created using an identical template, with national targets and key mandatory indicators. Importantly all of these comparative details will be public documents, providing transparency to voters.
Critically, and at last, the new EPRD mandates the creation of building passports – a recommendation set out by the task group over 20 years ago. This will provide practical information about energy saving tools in each individual building that could be of direct use both to building professionals and administrators. This information will be recoded in a national database with easy access to relevant parties, and new provisions to ensure interoperability.
Commercial buildings are traded goods
The EPBD charges governments with paying particular attention to non-residential building stock. After all, commercial buildings are unquestionably “traded goods” across frontiers.
Governments are required to identify the worst performing buildings, and to move 16 per cent by 2030, and 26 per cent of by 2033, into the higher performance categories. In EPC terms, it means upping E, F and G ratings to B or even A ratings. A Smart Readiness Indicator will be required for buildings over 1,000 square metres.
A similar, if less detailed, improvement exercise is required for the housing stock, where currently 43 per cent are classed as being currently in the worst performing part of the stock, or below EPC grade C. At least 55 per cent of any identified savings should come from improving this sector.
The Directive mandates no more subsidies of any kind for stand-alone boilers powered by fossil fuels, and for governments to introduce policies and measures to phase out all fossil fuel boilers by 2040.
All of these new requirements have long been common currency amongst building professionals in the UK. None are mandatory.
Whilst it is unlikely that anything will move forward between now and July’s General Election, it would make sense for any incoming UK government to implement the initiatives which European competitors are now adopting at pace
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 